Home Game Tournament Payouts

Home game tournament payout charts are best determined by consensus with smaller groups. Some people like a top heavy payout, while others like to spread the prize pool a fair amount. Personally, I like a more spread out prize pool like PartyParty's online payouts for sit-n-go tournaments because the last few hands are generally based more on luck. Also, I hate getting 2nd or 3rd only to get my money back, despite playing an excellent game, then losing a race. One thing is certain though, you should determine the payout before the game begins in order to keep the game fair. When noting the payout structure in a smaller game, I've found it easier to use multiples of buyins rather than percentages. So for example, if there are 7 players, saying the payout is "five/two" (referring to five buyins for first and two for second) is much easier than saying 72%/28%. Posting this payout structure (and blind levels) in your poker room is optimal. With that said, here are some example charts that you can print and use at your home game.

Spread Out Payout Structure (PDF)

Number Of Players
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
1st	2	3	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	10	11	11	11
2nd	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5
3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Top Heavy Payout Structure (PDF)

Number Of Players
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
1st	2	3	4	5	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	8	9	10	10	11	11	12	13
2nd	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4
3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1

Larger Tournaments

For larger tournaments, using percentages for notating payouts starts to be easier. This is especially the case when the house is taking a rake or paying for food. Here are some links to the payout structure for the bigger poker rooms:

Remember that before you consider running a home poker game, you should check with your local government's laws on the subject. Gambling Law US in particular is an excellent resource for researching gambling laws in the United States.